Persian phonetic keyboard layout is for Windows users who are interested to profit from their skill in typing with Latin-based keyboards in typing Persian texts faster and more conveniently. It is installable on all versions of Windows from Windows XP to Windows 10 (it should work on Windows 11 as well but I have not tested it). In this keyboard layout, Persian characters are ordered as phonetically as possible so that by typing a Latin key you can get its Persian equivalent. For example, by typing "L" you get ل. Regarding sounds that have several characters in Persian alphabet (e.g. S's, Z's), the most frequent character is available on the normal state of the keyboard and the other homophone characters are available on the Shift state next to the first key. For example, by pressing "S", you get س. For typing ص and ث, you must first hold Shift key down and then press "S" and "D" respectively.
Normal state
Here are the characters you can type by simply pressing a key. Move your mouse over a key to learn about the character you can get by pressing it. To locate keys more easily, Latin characters printed on Latin keyboards are written below each key in gray:
ZWNJ ` |
۱ 1 |
۲ 2 |
۳ 3 |
۴ 4 |
۵ 5 |
۶ 6 |
۷ 7 |
۸ 8 |
۹ 9 |
۰ 0 |
- - |
= = |
Backspace |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tab | ق Q |
ش W |
ع E |
ر R |
ت T |
ی Y |
َ U |
ِ I |
ُ O |
پ P |
] [ |
[ ] |
\ \ |
| Caps | ا A |
س S |
د D |
ف F |
گ G |
ه H |
ج J |
ک K |
ل L |
؛ ; |
' ' |
Enter | |
| Shift | ز Z |
خ X |
چ C |
و V |
ب B |
ن N |
م M |
، , |
. . |
/ / |
Shift | ||
ZWNJ stands for zero-width non-joiner. It's named so because it makes its preceding character appear in its non-joining form. For example, if you put ZWNJ after ی in میروم it changes to میروم. As you see, ZWNJ itself isn't visible but we can detect it from its effect on its preceding character.
Shift state
Here are the characters you can type by holding Shift key down and then pressing a key:
ZWJ ` |
! 1 |
@ 2 |
# 3 |
﷼ 4 |
٪ 5 |
^ 6 |
& 7 |
* 8 |
) 9 |
( 0 |
_ - |
+ = |
Backspace |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tab | غ Q |
إ W |
ء E |
أ R |
ط T |
ئ Y |
ً U |
ٍ I |
ٌ O |
ّ P |
} [ |
{ ] |
| \ |
| Caps | آ A |
ص S |
ث D |
هی F |
هٔ G |
ح H |
ژ J |
ك K |
ة L |
: ; |
" ' |
Enter | |
| Shift | ض Z |
ظ X |
ذ C |
ؤ V |
ي B |
ها N |
می M |
» , |
« . |
؟ / |
Shift | ||
ZWJ stands for zero-width joiner. It's named so because it makes its preceding character appear in its joining form. For example, if you put ZWJ after ی it changes to ی. Just like ZWNJ, ZWNJ itself isn't visible but we can detect it from its effect on its preceding character.
Alt state
As you know, there are two Alt keys on a keyboard. One in the left and the other in the right. Here are the characters you can type by holding right Alt key down and then pressing a key. Alternatively, you can hold down Ctrl and either right or left Alt key down and then press a key:
~ ` |
⇐ 1 |
⇒ 2 |
⇔ 3 |
$ 4 |
% 5 |
• 6 |
× 8 |
﴿ 9 |
﴾ 0 |
ـ - |
‐ = |
Backspace | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tab | ? Q |
ٕ W |
€ E |
ٔ R |
ى Y |
ٰ U |
ٖ I |
ْ O |
> [ |
< ] |
` \ |
||
| Caps | ٓ A |
ٱ S |
° D |
PDF F |
, K |
… L |
; ; |
Enter | |||||
| Shift | LRM Z |
RLM X |
© C |
LRO V |
RLO B |
LRE N |
RLE M |
٬ , |
٫ . |
÷ / |
Shift | ||
How to install
Please download and unzip perphon.zip. Open the folder, click on "setup.exe" and wait until a window appears indicating that Persian (Phonetic) has been successfully installed. Click on Close button to exit. Now you must add Persian as an input language to your computer and set "Persian (Phonetic)" as its default keyboard layout. This process varies depending on your Windows version. Please refer to online guides about installing keyboard layouts on your target Windows. The following screenshot is from my Windows 10.
